Kalamunda Eastern Suns have not been in the top eight at all so far in the 2012 men’s state basketball league season, however their second half of the year comeback was complete on Saturday night when they scraped into the last finals position.

The Eastern Suns took down the fourth place East Perth Eagles 105-100 on Friday night and then went on to take down the third place Cockburn Cougars 98-93 on Saturday to sneak into the top eight on head-to-head results.

Greg Palmer was a big asset for the Eastern Suns against the Cougars with 31 points, he was supported with doubles-doubles from Justin Brown (24 points, 13 rebounds) and Lee Roberts (22 points, 14 rebounds).

For the Geraldton Buccaneers however, it was a devastating weekend, they almost completed a miraculous comeback to end the season on a five game run with a 110-85 victory over the Perth Redbacks only to watch on as Kalamundas victory pushed them out on head-to-head results.

The Buccaneers were led by Morgan Sabia who finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds, fellow import Michael Lay put up 26 points while local star Aaron Ralph had 23 points.

At the top of the table, the Wanneroo Wolves had their 17 game unbeaten run ended by the Cockburn Cougars, the 91-79 victory wrapping up third position for the Cougars.

With a top four position on the line the Cougars dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Wolves 33-10 with Brian Carlwell hitting 14 points for the period, the Wolves fought back in the fourth but were unable to get over the line.

Cougars import Brian Carlwell dominated with 28 points and 21 rebounds and received support from Jeremiah Wilson (19 points) and Seva Chan (15 points), for the Wolves Greg Hire finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds.

Lakeside Lightning welcomed back imports Ben Beran and Luke Payne in their strong 124-85 win over the Perry Lakes Hawks, the loss ended the Hawks finals chances.

Goldfields Giants secured seventh position, taking down the Mandurah Magic 98-92, the loss left the Magic out of the top four and on a three game losing streak heading into finals.

In their last game of the season the Willetton Tigers defeated bottom of the ladder South West Slammers 107-88 in Adam Neners 200th game, veteran Travis Moore finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in a solid performance.

The Stirling Senators snapped their eight game losing streak to finish their season on a positive note, taking down the Rockingham Flames 107-95 with star youngster Robert Huntington finishing with 33 points and 15 rebounds.

The Kickz101 Men's State Basketball League Grand Final will be at the WA Basketball Centre on Saturday 1 September. Tickets are on sale from 9:00am Monday 6 August through Ticketmaster.

Article by Hannah Coleman
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)